


Heroes and Hope

by alanna_the_lionheart



Series: post 4x09 ficlets [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Caring, Coda, Episode Tag, Episode: s04e09 Dark Waters, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Letters, Love, One Shot, Original Character(s), Post Episode: s04e09 Dark Waters, Romance, Sappy, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Support, and people finally admit it, olicity - Freeform, oliver queen is a hero
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 07:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5618731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alanna_the_lionheart/pseuds/alanna_the_lionheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda to 4x09. In the wake of the shooting, Felicity falls into a coma, and Oliver puts his mayoral campaign on hold. He asks the city to let him grieve privately, never expecting that they'll listen. But in the end, his city surprises him. In the end, Oliver receives something he expected even less than privacy: letters. Letters addressed to both him and Felicity, offering prayers, well wishes, hope...and proof that the two of them have touched more lives than Oliver ever thought possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heroes and Hope

**Author's Note:**

> In all honesty, writing this was almost therapeutic for me, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried quite a few times while trying to edit it. It's a little sad, but mostly it's just sappy fluff in the wake of a heartbreaking finale and far too much gut wrenching speculation for the back half of the season. Hope you like it.

**Heroes and Hope**

 

Felicity spends three weeks in a coma. During that time, Oliver puts his mayoral campaign on hold. Between hunting Darhk and sitting at Felicity's bedside - holding her hand, reading to her, begging her to wake up - he just doesn't have the time to devote to his run for mayor. Even if he  **did** have the time, Oliver knows that his heart could never be in it.

 

His heart lies in a hospital bed: quiet, unresponsive, clinging to life...and just as beautiful as she always has been.

 

Less than twenty-four hours after Darhk's attack, the press begins to clamor for interviews with Oliver. On more than one occasion, Diggle and the small guard of officers Lance provides are forced to chase people off the hospital property. One particularly pushy paparazzo ends up needing to check into the same hospital he's trying to crash when Diggle "accidentally" breaks his nose.

 

Eventually, Alex speaks to the press on Oliver's behalf. He assures the city that Oliver is alive and well after the shooting, but his fiancée is badly hurt. He asks the people to let him grieve in peace, and that if anyone wants to help, Oliver would greatly appreciate their prayers and well wishes.

 

In the end, to Oliver's surprise and relief, the people of Star City respect his wishes for privacy.

 

But then, five days after Felicity falls into a coma, Oliver begins to receive something that surprises him even more:

 

Letters.

 

* * *

 

It starts with one letter, from an elderly woman named Anita who hopes that the kind young man who wants to rebuild the city she's lived in her entire life will have his world returned to him.

 

The letter comes in to the campaign office, and Alex personally delivers it to Oliver at Felicity's bedside.

 

"You're going to want to read this, Oliver," Alex says with a smile, handing him an open envelope.

 

The envelope contains a generic “Get Well Soon” card with a picture of a calm beach scene on the front of it. But the words handwritten inside it in a cramped, arthritic scrawl are far from generic. When Oliver's done reading Anita's words there are tears in his eyes, a smile on his face...and a feeling of warmth in his heart that feels like a spark of hope.

 

_ I'll keep you and your beautiful fiancée in my prayers,  _ the letter concludes.  _ God bless you and your family, and Merry Christmas. _

 

Oliver reads the entirety of the letter out loud to Felicity, though he has no way of knowing if she can hear him. Then he carefully stands the card on Felicity's bedside table before leaning over and gently kissing her forehead.

 

"Come back to me, Felicity," he whispers. "Please."

 

He doesn't chase Darhk that night. Instead he spends a quiet evening holding Felicity's hand, his heart filled with gratitude for the kindness of a woman he's never even met.

 

* * *

 

The next day he gets five more letters. This time Thea delivers them to him, and she reads all of them out loud. One's from a father of four who hopes that he will one day know the joys of fatherhood. Another's from a young woman who can't wait to see pictures of Felicity in her wedding dress. 

 

Some of the letters make him laugh. Some of them make him cry.

 

But every single one of them makes him smile.

 

* * *

 

The next day he gets ten more letters from his campaign office, delivered by Laurel.

 

Ten letters from ten strangers, offering Oliver their thoughts and prayers in this difficult time and hoping that Felicity will get better.

 

Until the proposal, Felicity was never in the spotlight of Oliver's campaign, and so the people of Star City don't know her as well as they know him. But that doesn't stop them from writing, or from offering support...or from caring.

 

Later that same day, Oliver receives another delivery: twenty five letters from Palmer Tech, delivered to him by Curtis Holt and his husband.

 

They offer their condolences before leaving Oliver with a small stack of well wishes from Felicity's own employees, all of whom hope that Felicity will be back with them soon.

 

Her employees know her better than the rest of Star City. One employee recalls how Felicity's kindness and quick thinking kept him from losing his job when he'd been one month shy of his retirement. Another recalls how Felicity advanced him a full month's pay when he needed time to care for his sick mother.

 

The last letter he reads includes a picture: a mother and father sitting in a hospital bed hugging their five year old daughter between them. The girl's head is wrapped in a bright pink scarf, and there are flowers and teddy bears and "Get Well Soon" cards strewn all about the daughter's room.

 

Five minutes later, Donna Smoak enters her own daughter's hospital room to find Oliver staring at the photo, tears streaming silently down his face.

 

She reads the letter out loud so Felicity can hear it.

 

_ Dear Oliver, _

 

_ I've been with this company for more than ten years, back when it was still known as Queen Consolidated. I've worked under countless superiors and for many CEOs. I've only worked for Ms. Smoak for three months, but she is without a doubt the best boss a person could ask for. She's also an amazing woman. My husband and I call her a hero, but our daughter Jessica knows her as the angel who helped her get better. _

 

_ Jessica was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. She's been in and out of hospitals since then. My husband took on a second job to help pay her bills, but we were struggling to get by, as our insurance wouldn't cover Jessica's treatment. _

 

_ Ms. Smoak had barely been my boss for two weeks when she heard about what was going on. She upgraded the Palmer Tech insurance plan for me and dozens of other employees, and she offered to pay Jessica's doctor's bills in full.  _

 

_ Our baby girl has been cancer free for a month and counting. I don't know where our family would be without Ms. Smoak's generosity and kindness. She gave our family hope when we didn't think we'd ever find it again. She saved our whole world, and my husband and I couldn't be more grateful. We hope and pray that Felicity comes back to you soon. _

 

_ All our love, _

 

_ \- Megan, Adam, and Jessica _

 

When she's done, Donna wipes her eyes carefully, then bends down and pulls Oliver into a tight hug.

 

"My baby girl's a hero, Oliver," she says proudly, her voice thick with tears.

 

Oliver chokes down a sob and hugs Donna closer to him.

 

"You have no idea," he responds, watching Felicity's chest rise and fall: slowly, but surely. "You have no idea."

 

* * *

 

The next day, a doctor knocks quietly on Felicity's door.

 

"Mr. Queen?" she asks as she enters the room, stepping slowly toward him.

 

Oliver turns to look at her, brows furrowing in confusion. She's not one of Felicity's usual doctors, and she sounds timid, almost scared. She also looks vaguely familiar, though he can't for the life of him figure out how he knows her. 

 

"Yes?" he asks.

 

She pauses, now within arm's reach of him, and he notices that the only thing she carries is a piece of paper clutched in her hand. She opens her mouth as if to speak to him, but she closes it in the end, losing her nerve. Instead she holds the paper out to him.

 

Oliver takes it from her without looking at it. His gaze stays fixed on her face, trying to place her.

 

"Do I know you?" he asks carefully.

 

The woman continues to stare at him, and an image of a city, dark without power, forms in his mind.

 

Finally, the doctor finds her words.

 

"You saved my life once," she tells him.

 

The image in Oliver's mind begins to clear, and he remembers a car, a woman standing in front of it. He remembers grabbing her, flinging himself on the car's hood, taking the brunt of the impact himself.

 

He remembers something else, too: the sound of a flatline, a commanding voice ringing out in a frantic ER.

 

_ "We're not going to lose her! Charge to 200! Clear! Come back to us, Felicity." _

 

"I wanted to thank you," the doctor continues, and Oliver recognizes her voice now, too. "To thank you...and to tell you that I'm keeping the two of you in my prayers."

 

She looks briefly at Felicity, then turns back to him. Oliver's mind is reeling, and he doesn't know what to say. Before he can come up with anything, the woman is gone.

 

Oliver stares down at the piece of paper in his hand: hospital stationery, words written in a neat, careful hand, so unlike the short, harried writing most doctors use.

 

He unfolds it and reads.

 

_ Dear Oliver, _

 

_ You don't know me, but you saved my life once. During the cyber attack on Starling City, you stepped in front of a car for me. It was dark, and I was panicked and scared, but I would know your face anywhere. I grew up seeing you on the news, after all.  _

 

_ The spoiled son of a billionaire. The boy who lost his father and spent five years of his life alone on an island. The boy who eventually came home, started his own business, tried to take over his family's company...and lost his mother.  _

 

_ The man who decided to put his own life in danger to run for mayor of a broken city. The man who vowed to make Star City good again. The man who promised he would never back down; that he would fight the darkness with light. _

 

_ The man who found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. _

 

_ I watched the Christmas tree lighting on TV the night you proposed to Felicity, and I was here in the hospital barely an hour later when you carried your bleeding fiancée into the ER. I did a double take, because how could this be the same couple I'd seen not so long ago? How could this be the same man, so young and happy, now looking like his whole world had fallen to pieces? How could this be the same bright, smiling, beautiful woman? _

 

_ I brought over a gurney and stood by as you placed her down on it. I checked her pulse, weak but still there, and I saw terror in your eyes. Oliver Queen: the man who had vowed to save my city. The man who had once jumped in front of a car for a complete stranger...for  _ **_me_ ** _ : a young, single mother whose death would've left her five year old son an orphan. _

 

_ You saved my life last year, Oliver, and you saved my son's life, too. That night you brought Felicity into my hospital I vowed to do whatever I could to save her. _

 

_ I owed you as much, and so much more. _

 

_ You're a hero, Oliver Queen. Don't ever let anyone tell you different. _

 

_ Love, _

 

_ Rebecca Miller _

 

Oliver chokes back a sob as he places Rebecca's letter down carefully on the bed. Then he kisses Felicity's cheek tenderly and leaves to find the nearest nurse's station.

 

He needs to thank Rebecca Miller in person.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, Oliver loses count of the number of letters he receives.

 

In two weeks there are enough letters, cards, drawings, and photos to cover all four walls of Felicity's hospital room. Letters come from his office and from Palmer Tech. They come from strangers and from old school and childhood friends - both his and hers. They come from Star City and Central City and Ivy Town. A few even come in from other countries, including one from Bali that Oliver needs to get translated.

 

They come from all over, and from people from all walks of life, but the one thing they all have in common is that they come from people who care. People who care about him, and about her. People who care about his run for mayor and for his future as a husband, father, and brother. People who care about Felicity's role as CEO and for her future as a wife, mother, and friend.

 

People who want them to be together...and to find the happiness they deserve.

 

* * *

 

A week before Christmas, Oliver receives a letter from a seven year old boy named Robbie. It's handwritten on yellow school paper, and it comes with a typed transcript ("So you can read his writing” Robbie’s mother explains on an attached Post-It).

 

_ Dear Mister Queen, _

 

_ My name is Robbie. I'm in the first grade, but you don't know me. I've seen you on the TV alot, so I know who you are. My Mommy told me you want to be the boss of Star City because you want to make our home good again. _

 

_ I wanted to help you clean up the bay, but my parents didn't want us to go so we stayed home that day. I saw you save that little girl on the news. You were very brave.  _

 

_ I like that you stood up to the bad man. I told my Daddy that I wanted to help you find him, because you're the good guy and you might need a sidekick, but he told me that's work for the grownups. _

 

_ We went on vacation to Central City to visit my Grandma. When we were there we saw on the news that your fiancée was hurt. I asked my Mommy what a fiancée was and she said that Felicity is the woman you want to marry. My Mommy and Daddy are married, and they are very happy. I want you and Felicity to be happy, too. I want you to have a family like us. Maybe you can have a little boy like me, or maybe a girl, but I think boys are better. _

 

_ I thought you must be sad knowing that the lady you care about is hurt. I know you are very brave, but I also think you must be scared for Felicity. So I asked my Mommy and Daddy how I could help you, and they told me to pray.  _

 

_ So we prayed a prayer for you and Felicity. When we were done I asked Mommy if I could send you a letter, so you'd know that we prayed for you and maybe you'd be happy. She hugged me and said it was a good idea. She also told me I should send you a drawing, too, because she thinks I'm really good at drawing and a nice picture might make you smile. _

 

_ So I drew a picture of you and Felicity. I'm sending it to you with my letter. _

 

_ Daddy wonders why I picked green for the cape instead of red, but of course I picked green. It's my favorite color 'cause of The Green Arrow. _

 

_ I hope Felicity gets better, Mr. Queen. I know you can save the city, because you're my hero. _

 

_ \- Robbie _

 

Robbie has indeed included a drawing, and when Oliver sees it he lets the tears he's been fighting since he started reading Robbie's letter finally fall.

 

It's a picture of Oliver in jeans and a T-shirt that says "Mayor Oliver Queen" on it. He's wearing a green cape that flaps in the breeze, and he has his arm wrapped around a smiling woman with glasses and a ponytail, wearing a pretty red dress.

 

Robbie's mom was right: the kid's a fantastic artist.

 

Oliver stands from his place at Felicity’s bedside, and he turns slowly as he looks around. 

 

There are countless letters spread over the walls of Felicity’s room. Letters that speak of loss and gain, of sacrifice and hope. Letters that speak of gratitude and love and lives that have been forever altered.

 

Because of him, and because of her.

  
Because of  **them.**

 

Oliver approaches the head of Felicity's bed, where his and Donna’s most favorite letters and photos and drawings adorn the wall, adding light and color to the otherwise pale room. He spends a few minutes rearranging things, until finally he has Robbie's drawing pinned up right next the photo of Jessica and her parents.

 

Oliver takes a step back and smiles, carefully wiping tears from his eyes.

 

Two families he's never met.

 

Two families whose lives have been changed forever: thanks to  **him** ...and thanks to the woman he loves more than anything in the world. 

 

A little girl who's alive because of Felicity...and a little boy who thinks he's a hero.

 

Oliver looks down at Felicity's quiet form, his heart swelling with love...and with hope.

 

Felicity is going to wake up, and when she does, he is going to spend the rest of his life with her.

 

After all, if Oliver Queen can make a little boy believe in heroes, then anything is possible.

  
**_...the end..._ **

**Author's Note:**

> This was born out of two desires: to write something happy and hopeful after Felicity's accident, and to give Oliver a LONG OVERDUE sense of reassurance in his capacity to change lives for the better. Oliver Queen is a hero, and I needed people to finally admit that to him. 
> 
> I really enjoyed writing the letters and diving into the minds of the people Oliver and Felicity have had an effect on. I was really excited to bring back the woman Oliver saved in 3x05. I desperately want them to bring her back on the show at some point and show Oliver that he can and HAS done good as Oliver Queen.
> 
> I also really enjoyed giving Oliver reasons to smile, and papering Felicity's room with photos and drawings and letters of gratitude.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
